2020
by Miss Starfire
Summary: Andros Stark had one mission and one mission only. He succeeded, but even victory has a price. And sometimes, success can cost more than failure.
1. Prologue

**Standard disclaimer for all my stories:** My stories are graphic, angsty, frustrating, filled with cliffhangers, drama and foul language. Read at your own risk – medical issues and subsequent bills are not covered by yours truly ;) If you don't like, please don't read. I appreciate reviews and constructive feedback but if you cannot stand the plot, save yourself and me some time and walk away. You don't have to love all IMAA stories :) I don't own IMAA. My stories are better viewed by using the "half screen" option of FFNET.

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 **Summary:** Andros Stark had one mission and one mission only. He succeeded, but even victory has a price. And sometimes, success can cost more than failure.

* * *

 **2020**

 **Prologue**

Twenty-five year old Anthony Edward Stark moved surreptitiously in the night. His life depended on it. He had spent most of the good part of the dark hours of the day doing his usual rounds for provisions. After five years of scrounging for every meal, he was running out of places to raid. At first, the quantities had been abundant due to the chaos the sudden attack had caused on the normal citizens. After five years, however, both the survivors and the rations were beginning to become scarce.

 _Gonna have to move again_ , he thought bitterly, hoping that other solutions presented themselves before a decision had to be made about relocating once more. He hated moving, even though it had become necessary many times in the past. The uncertainty of what would be out there was as heart-wrenching as the fact of leaving behind the place that was once home. Then again, home now was any place that was still standing, left over from the world he knew.

The last structure he was now searching had seemed promising from the outside, but after a thorough inspection of the inside, it had turned out to be a dud. The only salvageable item he had found was a pack of salty crackers that had expired last month.

Beggars could not be choosers, and a beggar he was today.

It was ironic to the inventor how many useless items people kept in their homes. What was the point of having a huge house if nothing inside was worth it in case of an emergency? Cash was useless and so were most other possessions. The only currencies of the day were guns, medicine, food and shelter, all of which were as difficult to find as water in the desert.

"That should be enough for tonight," Tony told himself before he exited the building through the same hole in the wall he had used to come in. He looked left and right to make sure there was not anyone else around before he sped down the dark alley and made his way home. Home today was an abandoned basement in what used to be a used cars dealership. Home tomorrow… Well, no one really knew what it would be.

He rearranged the goodies he had found tonight, held them in his arms, and began avoiding the traps he had previously set himself as he made his way inside the basement. He doubted he would find more food or other necessary supplies around here for much longer, but he did not dare to think about what this meant. One could only run away for so long before reality caught up with you and mocked you in the face.

It was darkly funny, a technology-obsessed inventor like him, living without society; without civilization.

He was almost near the end of the long hall of booby traps, but as fate would have it, one of the cans slid down from his arms and landed on the exact spot to set off the final line of defense against intruders. In the dead of the darkness around him, he heard the expert and quick cocking of a gun immediately before he felt the cold metal of its barrel resting against his forehead.

"Don't. Move. You've got a loaded, .357 Magnum short-barrel revolver pointed at your head, and I will blow your fucking brains out if you don't do as I say."

The blue-eyed boy could not help the smile that graced his face.

"Pepper, it's me: Tony," he whispered, making sure he did not make any sudden movements or raised his voice to push her to pull the trigger. That was how the last person that had tried sneaking inside had ended up with a bullet in his head, courtesy of Patricia 'Pepper' Potts.

"Oh, really?" she asked and he felt the barrel press harder onto his forehead. "Prove it."

"Isn't my voice enough?"

"You could be using a voice modulator."

"No one has any of those around anymore, Pep," he said in a normal tone of voice and then felt the gun being removed from his head. The darkness was then replaced by light – the only light in the small basement – and he sighed in relief. He watched as Pepper took a couple of steps back from him, lowered the gun, and put the safety on again before strapping it to her belt.

"You could've told me it was you from the beginning. You scared the crap out of me."

"Sorry," he gave her an apologetic smile before he bent down and picked up the can that had caused the redhead to go on full alert. "Are you feeling any better?"

She shook her head and bit her lip.

"No. I'm getting heartburn again."

"Really?"

Tony walked over to the area where they kept a few boxes, all lined up in neat rows. Each box held different items, classified by their use, and he began dumping his loot in the appropriate makeshift containers.

"I think I saw one last heartburn pill left. I'll get it for you."

"Save it. It's not as bad as other times," she replied and walked over to one of the two chairs in the room. "I'll just drink some water and hope it goes away."

"Are you sure, Pepper? Last time, you couldn't sleep, and it's time to go to bed."

The inventor finally finished sorting out the items he had brought. He then grabbed one of the cans he had brought with him today, and took out from his back pocket a Swiss Army knife. He selected the closest thing it had to a can opener, and then made himself busy unlatching the lid of what would be their dinner tonight.

Pepper watched him in silence as he threw the lid in the corner where the trash was kept and grabbed a small red box from the food container. He then turned around to face her, walked over to where she sat, and took the chair next to her.

"I found some tuna," he offered her the can and she shook her head.

"I'll just have some water," she said, nose wrinkled, and looked away.

"No, Pepper," he frowned. "You have to eat something. You haven't eaten all day. That's probably why you have heartburn in the first place. Your stomach still works even if there's no food in it, did you know that?"

Pepper scrunched her nose even more, and then pulled away from the tuna can.

"Just water, please."

Tony groaned. "How about some crackers? They're only a month past their expiration date. I think they're going to be fine."

"Water."

"Pepper, please!" he leaned his concerned face closer to hers. "You can't keep doing this. You need food to live, and I need you alive. So, please, at least a few crackers."

The redhead sighed in defeat, accepted a handful of the crackers, and began eating them slowly. Tony gave her a thankful smile before he stood up and walked over to where they kept the rain water. He had concocted a simple filtration system with whatever they had around, and while it was probably never going to be EPA- or Department of Sanitation-approved, it was better than the alternative.

"On second thought," Pepper said as she stared at his back. "I think I'll take that pill after all."

"Alright," he said as he began filling a plastic cup with water. "But that's your last one. I'll have to find something else for it. I wonder why you're getting so much heartburn lately. It's probably because you haven't been eating well."

"I don't think that's what it is," she cleared her throat.

"What else could it be? It has been picking up lately, and all I can associate it with is your horrible eating habits. We can't afford to get sick, Pepper. There are no doctors or hospitals."

"I honestly _don't_ think that's what it is."

She watched him turn around, cup of water in hand, and then stop by the medicine box. He grabbed the last heartburn relief pill they had and walked over to her. He handed her both items and she immediately swallowed down the pill. As soon as her face was free from obstructions, Tony crouched down before her sitting position in the chair. He then leaned closer to her, brushed her rather long bangs from her face, and locked lips with her. When he finally pulled back, he smiled at her and ran his thumb over her cheek.

"I'm not trying to be an asshole, Pepper. I just love you and I'm worried about your health. If something bad happens to you, I don't… I don't know what I'd do. I'm trying to find good stuff for us to eat, but it's getting hard to do. The last thing I want to be is the cause of an illness to you."

Pepper gave him a smile and shook her head.

"It's not the food, Tony. I can assure you that," she ran a hand over his bearded face and frowned. "Didn't find a razor, huh?"

Tony scoffed. "Not even a pair of scissors."

"Oh, well. There's always tomorrow. I have my eye on a location I think will have some good stuff for us."

"Are you sure you don't want me to go again?" he asked. He then stood up from the floor, walked back to the rain water storage, and began filling a cup of water for himself. "It's no problem if you want to stay in."

"No, Tony," she immediately responded. "This has been the arrangement forever, right? We alternate raids."

"Yeah, I know, but you're not feeling well. You haven't had a good night's sleep for a week now, and who knows if someone else is out there just waiting to take advantage of you. Besides, imagine how much more difficult the raid will be with heartburn. If you don't eat tomorrow, you aren't going anywhere."

Pepper scoffed and stared down at the crackers she still had in her hand.

"For the last time, it's… it's _not_ the food."

"Then what else can it be? I wish we were back at the Temple so I could get it running again and scan your esophagus and stomach. I'm worried you'll start bleeding soon."

Pepper took in a deep breath and then set the cup and crackers aside. She wringed her hands together and then began biting her right thumbnail.

"Actually," she began with a soft voice, "It's just a side effect."

"A side effect of what? Not eating?" Tony insisted as he waited for the cup to finish filling with water.

"No. It's a side effect of… pregnancy."

"Really?" he said nonchalantly, not immediately registering what she had said. "I didn't know."

Pepper bit her bottom lip as she waited for the news to sink in. When he dropped the cup he had been holding in his hands, she knew it had hit home. By the time Tony turned around to face her with an utterly shocked face, tears had already filled her eyes. It took all of her will not to break down before speaking again, and her words were still shaky at best.

"Tony, I'm pregnant."


	2. Chapter 1: Before - Part 1

**Chapter 1: Before – Part 1**

 _Year 7 B.T.E._

"Can you believe tomorrow's graduation day?" the redhead asked as soon as her lungs allowed.

"Sure?" Tony replied nonchalantly, almost instantly before his lips captured hers again for five, too-short-for-his-taste seconds.

"I'm serious, Tony," she slightly pulled back from his face even though there was not much room to do so on her end. "It's such a big deal!"

"Pep," the inventor kept himself from rolling his eyes, "Graduation is tomorrow. Not today. Not right now. So, not important. And we're kinda busy right now."

Her amused chuckle was muffled by his eager lips on hers.

She closed her eyes again, enjoyed the feeling of his mouth thoroughly savoring hers, and of his right hand softly caressing her left hip for another minute or so, before she pulled away again.

"Pepperrrrr," the genius groaned.

"I'm _seriously_ serious, Tony," her hazel eyes glued to his blue ones. "We made it! We're finally graduating from high school!"

"So, what?" Tony one-side shrugged with his right shoulder. His left forearm was busy keeping his lying form partly propped up above her.

"What do you mean: so what? It's life-changing!"

"No, it's not," he could not help to roll his eyes this time around. "There are more important things than walking on stage to receive a rolled up piece of paper with nothing written inside."

"What?" she knitted her brow. "What could _possibly_ be more important than finishing high school?"

"This?" he offered his response with a tone that showed how obvious his reply was to him as he leaned down to kiss her again. "You. Here. Us."

Her once-again muffled snicker was accompanied by a light tint of red on her cheeks that he unquestionably missed due to his focus on capturing her mouth one more time.

He had not lied to her just now – graduation was _not_ a big deal for him. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not at all. All his attention at the moment was on his redhead, on how soft and delectable her lips felt against his. On how smooth and warm the skin on her waist and hip was to the touch. On how he was partially on top of her; on how her body was pinned between his and the hood of his car. Not even the grandiose view of the Grand Canyon behind them captured this much attention from him. No. The only thing – the only _person_ , that deserved his very much undivided attention right now was his fiery friend. His _girl_ friend.

Oh! How stupid he felt at the moment for waiting so long to be able to refer to her as such!

The chaste kiss at the end of the Makluan invasion had only been the beginning; the start of a new chapter in their friendship – the commencement of a monumental shift in their relationship status. It had been the first day he had stopped denying he had been developing feelings for the redhead for a long time. It was the day he had manned up and had shown her, with the smallest, most innocent gesture of physical affection, that he was ready _and_ willing to return the sentiment he had known she had harbored for him since forever ago. That day, everything had changed for him, for the better. That day, he had, for the first time in a very long time, felt that he was truly alive!

Graduation? Fuck graduation! Tending to his girlfriend was of much higher importance to him!

"Tony," she mumbled between kisses when her phone began vibrating in her purse, "It's time."

"No, it isn't," his tone sounded as one of a mere child, annoyed at being told playtime was over and that it was now time for bed.

"Tony," she giggled, slid down her arms from being around his neck to having her palms resting on his chest, but she did not make any real attempt to truly stop his more than welcomed assault on her lips. "My dad's gonna kill me."

"No, he won't," he used his right hand to slide her left hand up and around his neck again, not once opening his eyes or slowing down the kiss.

"Yes, he will!"

"Just put the armor on," he deadpanned, not wanting the feeling of their bodies against each other to stop.

"Stark, you're gonna get me sent to a nunnery!"

"I'll break you out," his grip on her hip tightened, his responses broken by the quick start and stop of their kiss. "Take you with me to MIT."

"Tony Stark!" the redhead jerked her head to the side and finally pushed his chest away from hers with her hands. The hurt look on his face was painful to see, but so it would be if her father decided that he would no longer support the idea of dating the inventor. For whatever reason, and to both of their surprise, Virgil Potts had been rather displeased when Pepper had told him that she and Tony were an item now. Deep inside, the protective father had known that Pepper was an adult now, that her decisions were her own, and that Tony did respect and care for Pepper in all the ways a father would expect from the boy dating his little girl. However, there was still some animosity between Tony and her father whenever they were in the same room. She was not sure where this issue was coming from – her father had never expressed a dislike of the genius before, or at least not while they had been just friends, and she definitely did not want to give her father more ammunition against dating the boy.

"Pepper," he smacked his lips closed when similar thoughts of Virgil's dislike of him _kidnapping_ the ginger (with a painfully-earned permission from the FBI agent) for a romantic date on the other side of the country ran through his mind. He then licked off the traces of her taste from his lips, sighed loudly, and began to sit up, pulling her with him with his hands.

"I… I'm sorry, Pep."

"I know."

"I really AM sorry," his shoulders slumped. "I'll get you home. Come on."

"Tony," her whisper was not what stopped him, but her dainty hand on his did. "You know that it's not that I don't like doing… this… with you. I just… my dad…"

"Hey," he held her face in his hands, kissed her forehead, and then smiled. "I know, Pepper. I know."

He moved his hands from her face to her hands, kept them both in his, and his smile widened. They were silent for a second, the bright stars clearly visible above them in the darkness of the secluded location, and the redhead wanted nothing more than to read his current thoughts. If she had, she would have realized how much he loved spending time with her. If she had, she would have become overwhelmed and shocked by his mounting feelings for her.

He opened his mouth to finally verbalize this last thought to her, to tell her the reason why his heart was presently beating a thousand times per second – to bring to her attention the reason why he could not get enough of her lips just now…

But her phone's alarm went off again.

And it made her downcast. Her head hung.

"You know what?" he lifted her face by her chin with his right index finger, his eyes not stopping their movement until they locked with her saddened ones. "I take it back."

Her head recoiled, a million negative thoughts suddenly crossing her mind. "Take back, what?"

"What I just said about graduation. I can't wait for it to be here."

"Really?" her eyebrows shot up. "Why?"

"Because it means that, in a couple of months, we'll both go to college, and I can visit you whenever I want."

Pepper swallowed hard, looked away from his piercing electric orbs for a second, and then alternated between looking behind them towards the canyon and at his eyes.

"By visiting you mean: sneaking into my campus with the stealth armor and making out?"

"Hell yeah!"

Pepper threw her head back in laughter, tears of glee nearly forming at the corners of her eyes. It took all of Tony's self-control not to dig his face into her neck and just settle there for the night. He could not explain it, even if he wanted to (and he was glad that no one had asked yet), but that simple kiss after the alien battle had unraveled within him the uncontrollable need to make her laugh, to brush her velvet skin with his hands, to constantly press his lips against hers.

Just as he was again doing right now.

"Tony," her breath hitched when he embraced her once more; this time, however, his kiss was more intimate than before. "I really… have… to go…"

"Mmhhmm," he replied, tilted her head back with his right hand behind her neck, and then the third buzzing of her phone alarm finally broke the enchantment between them.

"Dammit," he pressed the left side of his face against hers.

"Tomorrow," she kissed his cheek. "We'll see each other tomorrow."

"Yeah," he agreed, lacking the will to continue hoping that time would just stop for him, and then nodded. "Graduation in the morning. Party in the afternoon."

"Mmhhh," she smiled. "And then the entire summer with nothing to do."

"Nothing to do. But being with you."

The redhead's voice left her, but she was sure that the heat her face was now feeling told him exactly what she thought about his plans.

xxxXXXxxx

Finally finding the damned plasma blaster in Tony's first person shooter video game was one of the reasons Rhodey did not mind staying at the temple on his own when his two friends went out on dates. Iron Man business had been rather dull and inconsistent ever since the alien lizards had been defeated; most of the bad guys they had encountered as of now were of the regular kind: no armor, no deranged billionaires calling on a zombie apocalypse, and definitely no shapeshifting masked women either.

As such, individual patrols had been the norm for a while.

They did take turns, however, rotating who got to patrol the streets at night – or even who was on call. In fact, most of the time, they did not even have to go to the lab to suit up or find trouble. War Machine and Rescue had been fitted into armored backpacks. The systems at the Makluan Temple were directly connected to the suits and phones. If something did come up, all three heroes would receive a text message to their phones.

Well, that was the expected protocol unless someone turned it off from inside – and Rhodey had done just that earlier today, wanting to give his friends the opportunity to enjoy their date night.

"ARGH! STUPID PLASMA BLASTER!"

The sound of play level failure filled the old ruins, as did the echo of Rhodey slamming the portable game console on the command chair. He exhaled loudly through his nose, narrowed his eyes at the main computer screen for an instant, and then gasped loudly while his legs all but sprung him onto the floor.

"How long have _you_ been there?!"

He stood before the floating screen, realized the notification had been blinking for about an hour, pressed about ten buttons on the projected keyboard, and then covered his ears when the blaring of alarms brought the temple to life.

"Oh, nuts!" Rhodey slammed his palm against the silence button. "I muted the stupid thing!"

He immediately brought up the details of the mission onto the screen, was taken aback by the location of the issue, but then shook his head and shrugged off the oddity of it. Team Iron Man was needed, urgently, and he was not going to let time zone differences or nearly 5000 miles of one-way travel keep him from doing his job. Tony and Pepper were not available and, given the current time, they were probably heading back home by now.

"I better leave now," Rhodey told himself when he ran towards his full-size War Machine armor and jumped inside of it.

The armor backpack was still on the floor, as it had been intended to be used to take him back home when he was done with his rounds. However, given the circumstances and the location of the mission, it was best for him to put on the full gear and just head home in his suit afterwards. Even if everything went well with the mission, and even if he used the orbital feature of the suit, it was very likely that he would barely make it back on time for the events taking place in a few hours. Tomorrow was graduation day for all three of them. If he missed the ceremony, his mother was going to castrate and kill him dead.

He was very fond of his reproductive system. He did not want to chance unleashing the wrath of his mother upon him or the world.

"Computer: continue rerouting all further communication to me only. Do not bother Tony or Pepper at all."

" _Command confirmed,"_ the computer replied. _"Until further notice, routing all communications to War Machine."_

"I know that's right," he smirked smugly inside the suit. "Let's go kick butt!"

* * *

 **A/N:** I left a HUUUGE clue in this chappie. Can anyone guess what it is?


	3. Chapter 2: Present - Part 1

**Chapter 2: Present – Part 1**

 _Year 1 A.T.E._

 _"When you become a father, you'll understand."_

It had been years since he had last had this catch-all phrase thrown in his face. He doubted there was anyone left around him that would bring it up again, but he had heard it enough times already for it to have a long-lasting impact on him – especially after the unexpected news Pepper had dropped on him, a few hours ago. He had heard the phrase a few times while growing up, from his own father, nonetheless, whenever the young Stark was unable to follow or understand certain house rules the older inventor sometimes imposed. His mother had not been around long enough for her to have the opportunity to use this parental "reasoning" with him, and Roberta had NEVER used this justification for her motherly worries. However, the last time this saying had been uttered to the genius, in the most heartbreaking of ways, it had come straight from the mouth of Virgil Potts.

That particular instance of the phrase would forever haunt his memories – of that, he was sure.

Tony opened his eyes to the partial darkness of the night; sleep eluding him despite how physically, emotionally and mentally tired he felt. His gaze slowly trailed down the short parade of the makeshift containers that held the supplies they had raided during the last few weeks. He mentally scolded himself. Half of those supplies had been found and dragged back here by the ginger; which meant that half of those raids had been performed by a pregnant-with-his-child Pepper Potts.

 _Pregnant_ , Tony swallowed hard. _Pepper's pregnant._

His always-working mind categorized and tallied the supplies currently held in the containers. With luck and with smart rationing of food on their part, they could comfortably forgo raids for about three weeks, and while forgoing raids was a stupid thing to do in and of itself, the true goal of altering the raiding schedule would be for Pepper to not have to go out on them again. If instead of taking turns raiding, they opted for Tony to go out every third day, they could stay ahead of the curve if he started doing that next week.

The math was solid and the plan made sense in his head. Convincing his redhead to stay behind from now on, however; that was almost as impossible as bringing back the dead.

He was not yet a father, but he _did_ now understand.

He sat up on the bed, slid his feet towards the edge, and they instantly hit the cold concrete floor. The bed was made up of a simple mattress lying on the ground, two mismatched accent pillows, and a thin blanket with rips and small holes atop of them. It was not the most comfortable mattress in the world, but it was the _only_ suitable mattress they had been lucky enough to obtain in nearly a year. Dragging it from place to place was not practical, so they would have to enjoy its crappy comfort while they could. Unless they did not move for a long time, that was. But not moving meant limiting their options to find supplies. And it also meant increasing the chances of being found by Jackers, VETAs… or worse.

Then again, moving also meant exposing themselves while having to start over in their search for another hiding place. Finding another temporary safe house was never guaranteed and never easy. In fact, the more they had moved, the farther they had gotten from their familiar hometown, and the more difficult it had been to find a new place to live.

 _No_ , he shook his head. _Not live. Survive._

Survive; because there was no other way to call their situation: eating mostly expired food, patching up old clothes that grew thinner and thinner every day, sleeping on the floor, showering only once or twice a month – sometimes less than that when it did not rain as often, shivering while attempting to remain warm by burning trash in the winter months, hoping no major illnesses took hold of them, spending half of the time fearing someone would find their hideout and jack them… and spending the other half terrified that someone would recognize them – recognize _him_ , and would kill them both for what he had done.

He, Tony Stark, had doomed the entire world – and everyone: dead, half-dead or fully alive, knew it to be so.

 _Andros was right. He should've killed me. He should've vaporized my head._

Then again, by the time Andros Stark had shown up to rectify the errors of his own past, Tony had already taken the steps necessary to ruin the world.

Ruin his world.

Ruin _her_ world.

Ruin their soon-to-be child's world.

He gave the dilapidated basement one last disappointed glance before he shifted in place to face the slumbering woman to his left. She had abandoned part of the covers at some point during the night, and the blanket was now closer to her feet than to the rest of her body. She was facing up; her left arm rested above her head, and her right hand was by her cheek. The pull of her upper limbs made her blouse ride up ever so slightly to show her midriff, exposing her still-very-much-flat belly to the world. His fingers itched to be run down her muscular stomach, and down to his child's current home, but he feared waking her up with the move.

Throughout the years, they had both become very light sleepers. It was unheard of for them, especially for Tony, who could pass out in midair after an Iron Man fight. Yet, present circumstances called for being ready to spring into offensive mode at the drop of a hat, especially at night. He who hesitated to kill, ended up being killed instead. It was truly a _Dog Eat Dog_ world nowadays. No one could be trusted. No one was incapable of committing atrocious crimes. No one showed mercy to anyone anymore.

It was rather funny to him, how people had taken the comfort of their homes and the safety of their communities for granted for such a long time, especially when they slept. At home, no one was supposed to bother you or hurt you. At home, you were supposed to feel loved and safe.

But, in today's world, the only safe place to be was in a cemetery. And the only safe thing to be was: dead.

What kind of fucked-in-the-ass world were they bringing a new life into? What opportunities would his child ever hope to have in a world where his or her father was the most hated man on a planet that was in severe shortage of people to harbor any kind of hate? What had they been thinking about, every time they made love?

 _She wasn't supposed to get pregnant. She was supposed to be infertile._

Or, at least 99% infertile. The 1% had surely fought tooth and nail to beat those odds.

 _Pepper_ , he felt his eyes sting.

From all the possible futures he had ever envisioned having with her, from all the opportunities and comforts he had ever thought he could offer to her, a life of constant fear and scarcity was not one that had ever crossed his mind. Why would it have, anyway, when he had been one of the richest men in the world before he was even legally able to drive? Why would this existence of limited resources even make the list in his head, when he had never failed to get whatever he wanted or needed in his entire life?

He sighed in sharp breaths as he looked down to eye his weathered hands. His hands and his mind were the only two tools he had ever needed to make things happen for himself. If it was broken, he would find a way to fix it. If it did not exist, he would invent it. If he could think it, he could make it happen. His intelligence had always been his most powerful means to an end. What he had not accounted for, though, was the end being the utter destruction of the world.

He had not planned for it. He had not envisioned it. He had certainly not predicted it. It had just happened. Overnight. In the blink of an eye. It had just hit him like a brick wall.

 _"When you become a father, you'll understand."_

He clenched his hands into fists, closed his eyes, and inhaled deeply.

This was not what she or their child deserved. He had, in essence, given Pepper, his Pepper, a death sentence. Pregnancy and labor were already difficult enough in a country with first-class healthcare available. Pregnancy and labor were practically a sure way to lose one's life in today's world.

It had only been seven years since that dreadful day, but in that time, children had become the objects of abstract dreams. At first, they had been some kind of a burden, a liability, due to the limited resources available after the start of the cataclysm. Then, children had become scarce, due to the side-effects of the VETA virus vaccine. Then, after about two years after his last attempt at saving the world, children were practically myths. It was extremely rare to see one around; as rare as seeing a flooding desert in the middle of August.

Throughout the years, many people had lost their children to the actions of Tony Stark. Many people would be happy to return the favor to him.

 _No_ , he shook his head fiercely. _I_ _ **can't**_ _let anything happen to them. I_ _ **won't**_ _let anything happen to them. I promised. I_ _ **swore**_ _. I swore I'd keep her safe._

He had not made it verbally official, but his heroic actions – or lack thereof – had been enough for the redhead to know that Tony had given up trying to undo the many errors of his past. He had tried, very hard and for many years, to rectify his biggest mistake, to no avail. He had even almost died doing so, but he had failed again and again. She had never questioned his recent reluctance to try again – to bring down the absolute reigning force in the world, but he knew that she wanted to fight once more. She wanted to avenge their lost ones. She wanted to help him carry the guilt. She wanted to be there for him, in any way she could. She wanted to do that for him, and much more.

And now, even if the possibility had never even crossed their minds, she was going to give him a child. In seven months, to be exact.

 _"I found some pregnancy tests at the house I raided last week,"_ she had told him earlier today after he had asked her if she was certain she was with child. _"They were those fancy ones that tell you how long you've been pregnant. I… I couldn't believe it. But I've taken the test five times. I finished the entire box of tests, actually. I… there's no doubt."_

No doubt – as nonexistent as hope for this world, or hope for a happy and plentiful life for Pepper and their child… unless he took measures to change this fact.

Unless he went back to the drawing board, made plans, thought outside the box, and fought back.

Unless he strapped on a pair, recovered his will to fix everything and save the world, and turned his plans into actionable tasks.

There had never been a choice – it was his responsibility to fix his screw up. He had no right to give up – especially not right now. He owed it to every person that had died in the catastrophe. He owed it to every loved one they had lost while trying to save them. He owed it to his future child. He owed it to his wife.

It was not going to be easy, and it would probably kill him in the process. But he would much rather die knowing Pepper and their child would live in a world of peace and opportunity, than die at the hands of those who would not hesitate to harm the people he loved most in the world.

 _"When you become a father, you'll understand."_

And he did: a father would do anything for his child.

* * *

 **A/N:** More clues were dropped here. Did you catch them? _SilverPedals1402_ got REALLY close to the clues left in the previous chapter. In fact, she mentioned a clue that I hadn't even said was a clue. This is the last update I have for this story. The next one will be for either _Eye of the Beholder_ , or for _The Last Chronicle_ (most likely TLC, since that story needs to be wrapped up). I hope it holds you over and that it serves to keep you interested in this story ;) Thank you for reading, and thank you even more for reviewing! I SURVIVE ON REVIEWS! If you haven't done so, please go review the previous chapter! The fluff in it is soooooo worth it!


	4. Chapter 3: Before - Part 2

**Chapter 3: Before – Part 2**

 _Year 7 B.T.E._

 _"Harold Hogan."_

He was going to tell her today, of that there was no doubt. He had planned on telling her yesterday, towards the end of their date, but the only opportunity to do so in a way that would be memorable for her had passed him by when her dang alarm had gone off to signify the end of their quick romantic getaway. Today was his lucky day, however. He could feel it in his heart and bones. Today, he would become forever free from boring school duty – he was confident that college _did_ have the potential to present him worthy challenges to his intellect. Today, he would leave behind the routine of compulsory secondary education. Tonight, he would celebrate this accomplishment with his family and friends. And later on, still tonight, he would tell his girlfriend that he loved her. And that he loved her very much.

The concept of love had been foreign to him for years – or at least in the form of romantic love. He loved his late mother. He loved his father. He loved Roberta, and he loved Rhodey, too. He definitely loved Pepper, as well. But when it came to his feelings for the ginger, especially in the last three months – which amounted to their entire dating period thus far – his love for her had slowly evolved every day. It had transformed from the same type of love he felt for Rhodey, to one that he had never experienced before. It was not just a crush or infatuation. It was not even simple lust or hormonal desire – though he could not deny that his slumbering libido had woken up from a rather long nap, thanks to her. It was something he could not describe – something that made his stomach churn when she smiled at him. Something that made him want to be a better person. Something that made him sad when he thought about the distance that would soon exist between them once college time came around…

Something that made him worry about Virgil Potts' obvious disapproval of him.

For the life of him, Tony Stark could not figure out what he had done wrong. Yet, for some unknown reason, and while the FBI agent had not even batted an eye when he had found out that the genius had built his little girl a suit of armor and that he had taken her to fight alien invaders, he had thrown a hissy fit when it had been relayed to him that he was now dating Pepper Potts.

What kind of logic was that? The fucked up kind; without a doubt.

 _"Patricia Marie Potts."_

The Master of Ceremony calling Pepper to the stage interrupted Tony's thoughts. His eyes followed her form as she walked up the short flight of stairs, received the rolled up piece of paper from Principal Nara, posed for a picture with said leader of the school, and then made her way across the stage, making sure she shook hands with every faculty member standing there. The entire process was so tedious and so clearly rehearsed, that it made Tony want to roll his eyes and puke where he stood. But he kept his disgust of the bureaucracy and theatrics of public education to himself, especially when Pepper took a moment to smile and wink at him before she returned to her seat.

As Principal Nara called on the next student waiting in line, Tony looked ahead of himself to see if Rhodey was yet to make it to the ceremony. He frowned when he realized his friend's presence was nowhere to be seen, despite how close it was for his name to be called. The inventor then turned to the crowd, searched for Roberta Rhodes' standing position behind the graduates' chairs area, and lifted his arms in a questioning manner. The woman shrugged in response, shook her head as she pointed to her cellphone – indicating calls to the young man were still unsuccessful – and then visibly sighed in defeat.

It was so unlike Rhodey to be late to anything – the man would probably be early to his own funeral. And it was even more unlike him not to give anyone a heads up of where he had gone or where he was. The last he had heard of his friend had been last night, shortly before he and Pepper had swapped their suits for the convertible waiting for them at the airport. The future Air Force cadet had texted him, in a joking manner, of course, to make sure that he had condoms for his date. He knew that Rhodey tended to spend the night at the armory when he was on patrol and he and Pepper went out on dates, but he had not expected him to just give up coming to his own graduation ceremony for the sake of a mission.

Then again, he was yet to receive any notice of a mission or of unusual activity at the temple. But he was not going to worry Roberta with this info just yet – especially when Rhodey's name was skipped over by the Master of Ceremony, when it was evident that youngster was not around.

 _"Anthony Edward Stark."_

The young billionaire plastered on his face his best fake smile as he performed the robotic choreography that had been drilled into every senior of the Tomorrow Academy for the past few weeks. He even kept himself from doing a thumbs-up during his official portrait with the principal. Before he knew it, he was already returning to his assigned seat, which was about ten chairs away from Pepper's, and he made sure to give her hand and shoulder a light and quick squeeze as he went by. As soon as he was back in his seat, the blue-eyed genius looked towards the line of remaining students again, until his pod alerted him of an incoming text message.

 _"Nothing?"_

He lifted his head from staring at his phone, aimed his face towards Pepper's direction to reply to her, and before he had the chance to shake his head at her, a scream made everyone look towards the stage.

"I MADE IT! I'M HERE!"

 _"James Rupert Rhodes,"_ the Master of Ceremony had no choice but to alter the order of the procession to utter the extremely late student's name.

Tony and Pepper snickered when Rhodey almost tripped on his still unevenly placed gown while going up the stairs to the stage, and then could not hold back their laughter when his precariously placed cap fell from his head and hit Principal Nara in the face during picture time.

 _Rupert_ was going to be in deep shit tonight.

xxxXXXxxx

The almost-night view from the balcony of Stark International was nothing but breathtaking. It was no Grand Canyon, of course, but Tony Stark knew it would be good enough to confess his feelings to her in a way she would remember for the rest of her life. They had already eaten, danced, spent time with the other guests of the official Tomorrow Academy Class of 2013 Party, and the couple was now watching the sunset by the rail of the private patio area of the high-rise. The skyscraper was the tallest building in the entire downtown area of the city that never slept – there was no better view of the sun setting for the day.

He methodically shifted his position from being to her left to standing behind her. She was holding onto the rail of the balcony, her eyes glued to the multicolored natural spectacle happening before her eyes. He carefully slid his arms around her form, by her waist, gripped the rail with his hands, and then pressed the front of his body against the back of hers until she was literally crammed between the rail and him.

"Congratulations on surviving high school, Miss Potts," he whispered in her right ear and the redhead smiled.

"Congratulations on passing your classes, Mister _I-gotta-go-to-the-bathroom_ Stark."

"Boo!" he playfully narrowed his eyes at her even though she was not facing him. "Cheap shot, Pep."

"But not a lie," she replied, rested the back of her head against his chest, rounded his neck with her left arm, and then pulled him down to kiss her.

The lip contact only lasted for a second; a loud throat clearing sound coming from behind them made them flinch and stop.

"Patricia, we need to talk."

Tony took a step back from the redhead, waved nervously at the newcomer, and then began walking away from them, his left index finger pointing in the general direction of the main hall where the party was still taking place.

"I'll give you guys some privacy."

"No," Virgil's voice was uncharacteristically unnerving. "This concerns you, too."

"Oh?" Tony eyed Pepper for a second, hoping the worry on her face was not also reflected on his own. "OK, Mr. Potts. What can I do for you?"

"I no longer approve of this relationship. You two have to break up."

Both teenagers stared at the older man in disbelief, stared at each other for a moment, and then returned their attention to Pepper's father. Neither the man's posture nor his stern face falter for a second – in fact, he appeared to be frowning even more now – an action that kept them from making any intelligent retorts.

"W-what?"

"You heard me, Patricia," her father began. "I've given it some thought, and I gave it a chance for me to take to this relationship. It hasn't gone well, so you must end it tonight. Immediately, actually."

"But-but, Dad… why… what did we–"

"This is not a negotiation. Say goodbye to Tony. We're leaving the party, right now."

"What?" this time, it was Tony who voiced his thoughts. "I don't understand, Mr. Potts. This… this is our graduation day… our party… And I… we… I just don't see where this is coming from. I know… I know you've had some reservations about me dating Pepper, but if you just tell me what these are and what you'd like me to do about them, I can assure you that–"

"You can break up with her right now. That's what you need to do."

"But," Tony's eyes locked with Pepper's. "But I… I–"

Tony's mouth contorted into the necessary shape to say the word _love_. His vocal cords and mind prepared for it. His heart screamed louder than any other time for him to just come on and spit it out. However, somehow, he pushed it all down. He ignored his instincts. He ate his words. This was just not the right time for his deepest confession. It would probably only make matters worse.

"I'm not a kid anymore, Dad," Pepper said in a broken voice. Her fists were shaking on her sides, her head was hung, and it was obvious that she was fighting the quivering of her chin and lips. "You can't tell me how to live my life."

"I can," Virgil was unfazed. "You may be going to college soon, but you still depend on me until you graduate. Maybe even after that. If you want me to pay for your school, you'll need to stop seeing Tony Stark."

Pepper's head snapped up and she gave her father the most disbelieving look she had ever had on her face. She eyed Tony again, silently asking for a reason for this sudden outburst, but the inventor simply shrugged. He was as clueless as her as to the origin of this issue.

"Don't waste any more time. Break up. We need to go home, and you need to pack."

"Pack? Why?"

"You're spending the summer with your mom, in Pittsburgh."

"Huh?"

"Don't you think I know you'll still see each other, if you stay? You're leaving tomorrow, so hurry up."

"Dad, no! Please…"

"Why…"

When neither teen made any effort to follow his orders, the older man grabbed Tony by the front of his collar, pulled him towards his face, and then all but growled his next words.

"You stay away from my daughter. You get that? If you see her or try to talk to her again, I _will_ have you arrested. I don't care how rich you are."

Tony swallowed hard, narrowed his eyes at Virgil, and then used all of his willpower to keep him from hurting the arm that held him. Even if Pepper's father was a grown adult, Tony still had the power of Extremis coursing through his veins. He knew he could cause some serious damage to the man, if he wanted to. He knew he could probably even beat him in a man-to-man fight as well.

Instead, and after giving Pepper a sad look, the inventor gave in.

"OK," Tony gulped again. "We'll break up."

Before Virgil could respond, and before Tony could further clarify his statement, Pepper ran past them, sobbing on her way to the main hall.


	5. Chapter 4: Present - Part 2

**Chapter 4: Present – Part 2**

 _Year 1 A.T.E._

A loud bang near her was all it took for her body to go on full alert, despite the deep slumber she had been submerged in, just seconds ago. She opened her eyes, sat up in bed, grabbed her gun from under the pillow, clicked the safety off, and aimed it towards the area where the noise had come from. She was breathing hard, her hands partly shaking, but she was ready to shoot to kill if it came down to it. With a quick glance from the corner of her right eye, she noticed that Tony was not on his side of the bed; a fact that made her even more nervous than before… until said man slowly walked out of the storage unit of the basement, his hands up in the air.

"Don't shoot, babe!"

It took her a second to process his words, but once she did, she exhaled loudly, rolled her eyes, put the safety back on, and dropped the pistol on his empty side of the bed.

"What the _HELL_ , Stark? Do you _want_ me to shoot you?"

"Sorry," he lowered his arms and shrugged apologetically. "I dropped something, again."

"No shit?" she rubbed her face with her hands. "You've _got_ to stop doing that! Seriously! One of these days, I won't be fast enough to control myself and I'll just… I'll just…"

 _I'll just kill you, too_ , she wanted to say, but she bit down her tongue. They were both painfully aware that she had already killed people they loved, with the same gun she carried around, nonetheless. There was no need to make it even realer for her by saying the words. There was no need to remember the unspeakable acts she had committed thus far.

"Dammit, Tony," she inhaled deeply, removed her hands from her face, and then stared at his incoming form as he sat next to her on the bed. "Please, don't do that again. Wake me up first. Or-or at least _wait_ until I wake up."

"I was going to," he said earnestly before he leaned his face closer to hers and gave her a quick peck on her lips. "But it's past noon, and I just couldn't sit still anymore."

"What?!" she eyed her analog watch on her left wrist. "Ugh! I slept the morning away!"

"Because you needed it," he was quick to say.

"I," she shook her head, finding no reason to argue with his logic, and then combed her long red tresses with her fingers. "Might as well, I guess. I'll have plenty of energy for the raid tonight."

"Pe–"

She immediately covered his mouth with her left hand and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Don't. Even. Start, Stark. I'm going on the raid tonight, and that's it."

He did not pull her hand away from his lips, but his eyes did travel down her form, to her stomach, and he frowned.

The eye move caused the redhead to voluntarily uncover his mouth, but only to use both of her hands to somehow try to hide her belly.

"Tony, I've been doing this for two months, just like this. I'll be fine."

The genius breathed through his mouth loudly yet slowly. He placed his right hand atop one of hers, while they were still lying against her stomach, and then closed his eyes in defeat.

"I don't want to fight, Pepper."

"Then don't."

"But–"

"That sounds like fighting."

"However–"

"Fancy fighting!"

"Pepper, listen!"

Before she knew what he was doing, he pulled her towards him to embrace her fiercely. She barely had the time to slide her arms around his waist as he used his own to practically melt her into his chest. He dug his face into her neck, placed a few kisses on her skin, and then exhaled on just the right spot on her shoulder to send shivers traveling down her spine.

"I want to fight," he whispered to her.

"What?" she furrowed her brow. "I thought you just said you didn't!"

"No! Not…" he groaned. "I mean: I want to fight _back_. Again. I want to give it another shot."

This time, it was her who tensed up. Some part of her had been looking forward to him being ready for this; for his will to battle to return, for a very, very, very long time, in fact. Nonetheless, another part of her was screaming internally, afraid that she would lose him this time around, just as she almost had the last time he had tried taking on their enemy face-to-face, nearly three years ago.

She still sometimes woke up in the middle of the night, just to make sure he was still breathing, moving, and overall not giving up on being alive.

She opened her mouth to ask what had changed his mind, but she quickly realized what the reason was: her pregnancy – their child. Just a year ago – the last time they had been in battle, and the last time Tony had been faced with a difficult decision – he had effectively called it quits on trying to undo the damage done to the world. She had initially thought that it was just a phase. That, in due time, he would become even more motivated to tackle the enemy once more. However, the result of said fight had been a lot more than even the great Tony Stark could handle. She was yet to recover from it, too. Why would she expect _him_ to be over it just yet?

Pure wishful thinking. She was sure of it.

"OK," she finally said. "When? How?"

"Not sure yet," he honestly replied, pulled away from her so that he could run his right hand down her cheek, and then smiled. "But I do know that I need you there with me. So please, after tonight–"

"No more raids for me," her response made his jaw drop. He had, in good conscience, thought that he would have to tie her up, take away her gun, or maybe even knock her unconscious somehow, for her to stay inside. However, she knew as much as he did, that it was just the two of them now. Their friends and family were gone. All they had in the entire world was each other. And soon, they would have another mouth to feed. A little being that would not survive if one of them was gone.

"Really?" he asked when he briefly thought that his ears were playing tricks on him. "You-you mean it?"

"I do," she nodded. "But if you don't include me in your plans, Tony, I swear I'll–"

"Are you kidding?" he snickered. "What would I do without you pulling my ears, huh?"

She playfully rolled her eyes, lightly slapped his chest with her hand, but said nothing more. She knew what he had meant, because she felt the same way, too. After everything that had happened, and after all that had been lost, it was his continued presence in her life that made her want to continue breathing. It was him being alive that kept her pushing forward, no matter what. And as long as he fought to stay alive for her sake, she would do the same for him.

"Until death do us part," she whispered, and he silently agreed with a nod.

xxxXXXxxx

"Tony!" the redhead could barely control the excitement in her voice when she ran inside the basement after finishing up her raid, thrilled that her hunch on the location she had chosen to break into had paid off. It had been all the more successful in that, while exploring the new area, she had encountered no marauding Jackers and – even more fortunately – no prowling VETAs. Thank God for small favors. "Oh, my gosh! Look at what I found!"

She held the unopened package of razors in her right hand, shook them as if they were the winning tickets to a multi-million dollar lottery, and then gasped in shock at what she saw.

The entire basement had been rearranged in the short time she had been away from it for her last nightly round for provisions. All of their supplies were now neatly categorized (rather than just thrown into boxes), packaged, and had been tallied up with writings on the wall. Their mattress had been raised, held a few feet above the ground by wood crates of different sizes, all evenly arranged so that they served as a makeshift support for the bed. The previously abandoned and seemingly forgotten old maps that Tony had once used to keep track of raids and attempts at ending the hostile takeover were taped to the walls. A couple of lit aromatic candles covered over the lingering stench of the dead bodies they had dragged out of the basement when they had first found it. And, the greatest surprise of all: the old, non-working tub that had been in the bathroom was now placed in the middle of the main room, filled with steaming water and soap bubbles.

"Tony?" her hand covered her mouth, and she nearly dropped her bag of supplies. "When… how… huh?"

"I got bored," he said with a shrug from behind her. He slowly took the loot from her hands, box of new razors included, and then smiled wide at how happy she looked.

"Is that… is-is that a…"

"Bath? Yup. A _warm_ bath. Better hurry up and use it before the batteries run out."

Her head snapped to her left to stare at a very proud-looking genius. She opened her mouth a few times, wanting to find the right words to express how grateful she currently felt, but she just could not put anything together. Her eyes returned to the inviting scene before her, inhaled the scent of lavender coming from the candles, and then all but ran towards the tub.

She did not care how he had gotten it out of the bathroom, or how he was keeping it warm. She did not care if she had to help him drag it back. Hell, she would have not even cared if the bath had not included soap! It had been YEARS since she had had the opportunity to _soak_ in clean, warm water. It had been ages since she had had the chance to wash herself so thoroughly and without a hurry.

By the time she reached the bath, she had already stripped off all of her clothes. She squealed in happiness when she practically jumped into the tub, sunk herself all the way in, and stayed under the water for almost a minute. Before Tony could worry that she was trying to kill herself in a tub of relaxing happiness, the redhead finally came out of the water, her skin shining with the glow of wetness.

"Mmhhh," she rested her bent arms on the edge of the tub, facing him, and her chin on her arms. "This is almost perfect, Tony."

"Almost?" Tony was taken aback. "What's missing? Water getting cold already?"

"No," she shook her head. "It's missing you."

Tony smiled sheepishly, took a step towards her location, but then shook his head. "Give me ten minutes. I'll be right there."

"What? Why ten minutes?"

His only response was to shake the box of razors in his hand and she smiled.

"They're all for you," she informed him before she got in deeper inside the tub. "I also found some scissors. They're in the bag. I'll cut your hair later on."

"You don't want any?" he asked, and then almost instantaneously remembered that Pepper did not need to shave her body hair ever again in her entire life. For her, it was a side-effect more akin to silver linings of a bad experience. For him, it was evidence that he had almost lost her, four years ago.

The lost look that crossed his eyes told her she did not need to reply.

"Ten minutes," he said, shaking his head to push away the horrible memories. "Don't hog up all the hot water, Pep."

"I doubt it," she smiled. "I don't know how you made this happen, but if you invented it, it's gonna last forever. I have no doubt that it'll do what it's supposed to do, as long as it's supposed to do it."

"Yeah," he turned around in place to look away from her before she realized how her would-have-been-encouraging words just now had affected him.

"Stark-made," she added, clearly unaware of his current discomfort. "Guaranteed to work, for life! I know that's true!"

And it was. It was true. Whatever he created, whatever he brought to fruition, always did its job.

Sometimes, however, it did it too well.


	6. Chapter 5: Before - Part 3

**A/N:** Sooo, I know I said I was gonna leave the story alone for now, but it didn't let me sleep until last night. I was up all night writing chapters, and I realized I might as well post them all to give you guys a heads-up of what's to come. Then, a few hours ago, one of my Spanish-speaking Faithful Readers asked me if I could translate this story, and I figured: why the heck not? I translated _Kilómetros_ to _Miles_ , way back when, so it's only fair to do the same with this story. I'm kinda shooting myself in the foot for it, though, because that makes FIVE stories for me to update, but as long as you're willing to read them and don't mind waiting for me to update the products of my psychotic mind, I'll be here :)

Your favorites, follows and reviews are the highlight of my day :D

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Before – Part 3**

 _Year 7 B.T.E._

"So, what? That's it? It's over between you two?"

"Yes," Tony shrugged, "And no."

"Huh?" Rhodey's head recoiled. "Which one is it?"

"I have a plan," Tony replied, his back resting against his favorite work table at the Makluan Temple.

"A plan?" Rhodey crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, no! Please don't tell me you're gonna pull a _Romeo and Juliet_ here. 'Cuz if you do, that makes me Mercutio. And he dies."

"No, of course not," Tony's legs and arms crossed while still standing. "I just… I'm gonna–"

"TONY!" the redhead's voice echoed in the old temple shortly before her padding feet on the stone floor replaced the previous noise. "I can't believe you just gave up! Just like that! You didn't even fight for us! Is that really how little you care about us? Is my dad right about you?"

"Whoa, Pepper!" Tony lifted his hands in a defensive gesture, honestly surprised yet happily relieved that the redhead had taken up on his proposal to sneak out of her room in the middle of the night to come meet him at the temple. "Let me explain."

"Explain what, exactly?" Pepper's teary eyes pierced his. "Why you're such a coward and just accepted my dad's stupid order?"

"No," he placed his hands on her shoulders. "I don't want us to break up, Pep. I… I want us to still go out… And, I-I have a plan."

"You have a plan?" the redhead repeated.

"He has a plan," Rhodey said with a shrug before turning his attention to the main computer in order to give the couple some resemblance of privacy. Besides, with everything that had happened in the last thirty-six hours, this was his first chance to finally document the dead-end mission he had gone to Russia for, last night.

"What plan do you have, Genius?"

"A good one."

"A good one?" Pepper raised a single brow.

"Well, a decent one," Tony amended his statement with a small flinch of his head.

"A decent one," Pepper deadpanned.

"A… plan."

Pepper sighed, took a deep breath to calm herself, and then nodded to the inventor.

"OK. I'm sorry I yelled. I don't want to break up either. I… what's the plan? And please don't tell me you want us to run away. That's so juvenile."

"And Rhodey's not gonna be Mercutio," Tony said with a small smile, prompting his redhead to snicker when she caught on to his joke, even if just lightly.

"Nope, I'm not. He dies," their friend added from his position by the computer, his fingers flying over the projected keyboard.

"I'm listening," Pepper said with honesty.

"Right. So. Look. I know your dad started hating me, or something, when we started going out. But, I don't think it has anything to do with us. I… I really, really don't."

"How do you figure?"

"Well, he never had any problems with me being your friend, right?"

"Right."

"And we've been friends for over two years, Pep. It just doesn't make any sense that he just suddenly wants to put my name on America's Most Wanted list."

"OK. But how does that help us?"

"Well, it tells us that you and I are not the problem. The problem is him. There's something he's not telling us. Something that has made him uncomfortable all this time. We just have to find out what it is."

"Tony, you were there today. You asked him what the issue was. He didn't even try to reply!"

"Yes, but it was because he was already upset. Just… just give him a few days. Go to Pittsburgh. Spend time with your mom. I'll talk to him, in person, in a week."

"What?" Pepper shook her head from side to side. "Are you crazy? He's gonna beat you up! I mean, the way he spoke to you and then how he grabbed you by the shirt… Tony, I've never seen him do that to anyone. And I dated _Happy_!"

"Which is why I think I can fix this for us, Pep. It's not that he doesn't trust you, or that he doesn't like me, or the idea of us together. If that were the case, he wouldn't have let us date in the first place. I… I-I don't know what it is, but I _will_ find out. I'll get it out of him. We'll sort it out. Man to man."

"I don't know, Tony. I just don't think I like the idea of you and my dad being alone. He has a gun, you know? He'd probably use his favorite one on you too! It's a .357 Magnum short-barrel revolver. I've seen it. He loves that thing. Won't even let me look at it."

"Pepper," Tony circled her waist with his arms. "1) I am Iron Man, alright? And 2) I am Iron Man, alright?"

Pepper rolled her eyes at him and rested her forehead against his chest.

"I still don't like this idea, Tony. I think we're closer to a solution forcing Rhodey to be Mercutio."

"HE DIES!" Rhodey snapped over his shoulder, his eyes glued to the screen as he began wrapping up the logging of the mission. "Not gonna play that!"

This time, the giggle of the inventor and the redhead was audible enough to make Rhodey smile.

"OK. So, let's say I let you walk into your own murder scene," Pepper began. "And let's say that this doesn't work out. What then? What's the plan, then?"

Tony pulled away from her, crossed his arms over his chest, and looked towards the ceiling, his pose noting he was giving serious thought to her question. It was very likely, extremely plausible; actually, that Virgil Potts did everything and anything in his power to get his way. As unreasonable as it sounded to him, and despite his own father's advice to respect Virgil's role as Pepper's caregiver, Tony was not willing to give up what he had with Pepper. He really liked her. Wanted her with him. He loved her. He was sure there was something that could be done if all else failed.

 _"I will not let you date my daughter, even if the world was going to hell and you two were the only hope to keeping the species alive on Earth."_

Then again, the statement Virgil had made to the inventor soon after Pepper had left them alone on the roof did not necessarily fill him with confidence in his ability to patch things up.

"Tony?" Pepper tilted her head to the side. "What's your backup plan?"

"Uhm…" Tony's head bobbed from side to side, thinking of all the possible scenarios available to them, and then blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. "You transfer to MIT and I pay your expenses."

"What?!" both Rhodey and Pepper exclaimed with shocked looks on their faces.

"What?" Tony shrugged, the idea sounding more and more viable the more he spoke. "I could. I'm rich, you know?"

"Tony," Pepper shook her head. "There's no way I'm letting you pay for my school!"

"Why not?" Tony's head recoiled. "If your dad won't support you just because he has an issue with who you're dating, why shouldn't I try to fix that for you?"

"Because… because it's ridiculous!" Pepper threw her arms in the air. "Who does that?"

"I do," Tony pointed to his chest with his right index finger.

"Tony," Rhodey stopped his typing to stare at his friend. "I'm actually with Pepper on this one. And that's saying something. She's typically the one with the crazy ideas 'round here."

"Stop helping, _Rupert_ ," the redhead snapped, earning her a glare from James Rhodes.

"Anyway," Rhodey returned his attention to the computer, " _Marie_ here is right. You were closer to a solution with just talking to her dad. Like you said, the issue is probably his. He's probably stressed at work. Or maybe he's not ready to accept the idea of Pepper growing up and leaving for college. I mean, my mom has been hysterical about me leaving, too. And I'm a _guy_. I can't imagine the ideas or fears that are going through Mr. Potts' head right now."

The room became almost silent for a moment; the only sounds being of the buzzing computers, Pepper's left foot tapping on the floor, Tony's fingers rapping the table behind him, and Rhodey's incessant typing, until Tony finally sighed loudly and dejectedly, and then threw his arms in the air.

"Fine," his shoulders slumped. "OK. Fine! I'll talk to him, as many times as I need to. I won't make this worse."

"Thank you, Tony," Pepper smiled, her hands clasped under her chin.

"But," Tony lifted his index finger at her, "If that doesn't work out… If he continues to be unreasonable, then I'll– What the _fuck_?"

The entire Makluan Temple suddenly losing power made all three teens stand silent and still where they were. They all mentally counted to five – the time it typically took for the backup generators to kick in – but when all the systems and computers continued to be dead to the world, Rhodey complained loudly.

"Oh, man! I was almost done with that mission log entry, too!"

"Some of it should've been saved," Tony said, his hand reaching over to his back pocket to collect his pod. "The auto recovery feature should've kicked in when the power went out."

"I can't see anything," Pepper whined. "I left my phone at home so that my dad couldn't track me down."

"And I left mine on the table," Rhodey said, his hands patting around. "Has it always been so dark in here?"

"What the hell?" both teens heard the leader of Team Iron Man say. "My pod won't turn on!"

"What?" Pepper began searching for her boyfriend's location by waving her extended arms in front of her. "How is that even possible?"

"Maybe the satellite lost power, too? Oh, shit!" Rhodey continued his colorful string of words on his way to the ground.

"Rhodey! What happened? Are you OK, man?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Tripped on my damned armor backpack."

"Is the backpack OK?" the redhead teasingly asked, prompting Rhodey to groan again.

"Very funny, Pepper," Rhodey replied with loaded sarcasm.

"Son of a bitch," Tony ignored his friends' bantering. "Why haven't the backup generators kicked in yet? I'm gonna break something around here!"

"Then stop moving," Pepper offered when she realized she did not have echolocation skills. She thought she had been walking closer to Tony, but his voice now sounded farther away from her.

"This is odd," Rhodey stood up from the floor, his backpack hanging from his shoulders. "The backpack is not coming back on, either."

"It's not?" Tony's head snapped in the general direction of Rhodey's voice. "OK. That's not good. Not good at all."

"Why?" Pepper asked, her head moving left and right to try to pinpoint Tony's new location.

"This means this is not a power failure."

"Then what is it?" Rhodey asked, his finger repeatedly pressing the on button on his armor backpack.

"Operating system failure," Tony replied, his hands now patting around himself to try to find a flashlight. "Maybe even hard drive or server damage. Data corruption is a possibility too."

"How would that affect your pod and the backpack?"

"They all share the same network," Tony explained before he cursed when his finger brushed against a sharp object on the table.

"Are you OK?"

"Yeah, Pep," Tony licked some of the blood off his finger. "Let's just get out of here before we bump into a fucking bear trap or some shit like that."

"OK," Pepper agreed, easily sensing Tony's current annoyance in his tone of voice. She turned on her heels, thought of something depressing, and then stopped. "Wait. Isn't the door controlled by the system, too?"

"Ugh!" both Rhodey and Tony said in unison.

"Now, what?" Rhodey snapped.

"Well, we can still open the door," Tony began. "There's an emergency latch hidden within one of the bricks near the entrance. All we gotta do is–"

"Hey! Look!" Pepper pointed towards the now flickering main screen of the lab. "The power's coming back!"

With the little light the struggling floating screen provided, the three teens ran towards it, stopping mere inches from it. The screen showed all kinds of flashing lights of varied colors, until it finally died off once more. The collective sigh of irritation filled the entire temple for a second, and before the teens could further voice their exasperation with the entire situation, the screen flickered once more. This time, however, the image did not falter. Nor did it bring relief to the teens.

"Is that…" Pepper swallowed hard. "Is-is that the… the symbol for… for…"

The redhead was unable to finish her inquiry; her mind was too stunned to complete the seemingly difficult task of forming words. However, saying aloud what she suspected was taking place became unnecessary the moment a familiar voice hissed a single word from the lab's intercom – and unknown to the three occupants, signaled the end of an era.

" _Consume."_

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright! It's clue revelation time! The hints of who our main enemy is, were: 1) The picture used for this story, which is from the episode _Iron Man 2099_. The screenshot is demonstrating the first attempt at using the chips filled with the basic version of what later becomes the Vortex A.I. program. Tony describes them as "Nanovirus chips, inspired by Technovore." 2) B.T.E. and A.T.E. These are a little bit trickier to decipher. But, if you're familiar with the terms B.C. and A.D., they may have made some sort of sense to you. B.T.E. stands for _Before Technovore Era_ , and A.T.E. stands for _After Technovore Era_. The A.T.E. chapters take place in what _we_ would refer to as 2020 A.D., hence the story's title. 3) In Chapter 1, we see Rhodey playing with Tony's portable video game console. That was a nod to the episode _Technovore_ , in which Rhodey is playing a video game when he gets the notification that trouble is happening at the Project Pegasus facility, where Harchov is. In that chapter, he made the same decision as before: he didn't tell Tony what was happening and just went to check it out by himself. 4) In Chapter 2, there's a paragraph that reads: _"Then again, by the time Andros Stark had shown up to rectify the errors of his own past, Tony had already taken the steps necessary to ruin the world."_ Meaning, Andros came back to stop Tony from creating the Vortex virus, but by then, Tony had already created Technovore. 5) In Chapter 4, the conversation Tony and Pepper have towards the end about how whatever he invents works too well and lasts for life was a nod to how Tony designed Technovore to never stop. 6) In this chapter, we find out that Rhodey went to Russia for the mission. At the end of the episode _Technovore_ , we see Harchov arriving to where I assumed was Russia, and we also see that Technovore's nanobot form hitched a ride in his clothes. AND, 7) At the end of this chapter, well… if _"Consume"_ is not a dead giveaway, I don't know what is XD

Here's a mean pop-culture reference from my hubby and beta, _Teen Tyrant_ :

 _I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones  
Enough to make my systems blow  
Welcome to the new age, to the new age  
Welcome to the new age, to the new age. –_ Imagine Dragons, _Radioactive_


End file.
